by Ning er
As she finished, Yun Ruo Xue burst into mocking laughter, her eyes full of smug arrogance.
But her words had thoroughly insulted Rui mama. She only looked at Yun Ruo Xue’s laughter with an unusual calm, and waited for her to finish laughing before slowly continuing, “I’m afraid the one who doesn’t have the right is you, er xiaojie. Don’t forget, whose reputation of chastity was ruined? If the news spread, I’m afraid even xiangye can only send you away to become a nun. At that time, the prosperity and luxury of the mortal world will have nothing to do with you anymore!”
Yun Ruo Xue was, after all, a young girl. She had obviously never been humiliated by a servant in this fashion. Her pretty little face only flashed red for a moment, white another and black sometimes, creating a marvelous spectacle.
Yet Rui mama only seemed to be calm and unruffled as she enjoyed Yun Ruo Xue’s changing expressions, waiting for her rebuttal.
Yun Ruo Xue’s hands had already formed fists under her sleeves. Seeing that Rui mama’s eyes were filled with mockery, the resentment in her heart boiled up to her head. She suddenly turned to grab a bowl on the table and dashed in front of Rui mama, smashing it down on her head!
Rui mama was momentarily caught unaware and allowed a precious young miss like Yun Ruo Xue to hit her head on. In a moment, blood flowed from her head like a river, causing Rui mama to faint in fright.
Yun Ruo Xue took the opportunity when Rui mama fainted to quickly rush out of the ancestral hall and run towards Feng He Yuan.
At the moment, Su Qing was copying Buddhist scriptures while cursing profusely. But as soon as she saw her daughter rush in with bloodied clothing, she quickly had someone close the gates to the courtyard and pulled Yun Ruo Xue closer……
Not giving her any time to ask what had happened, Yun Ruo Xue shook Su Qing’s body and cried loudly, “Mom, I want to go to laotaijun’s birthday feast! You must tell daddy not to let that cheap slut, Yun Yi Yi attend! Did you hear me?”
Su Qing was already dizzy at being shaken so severely. Hearing her daughter make such a loud noise, she immediately raised a hand and slapped Yun Ruo Xue’s face!
She then pointed and shouted angrily at Yun Ruo Xue who was clutching her cheeks, “Have you gone crazy? Don’t you know that I’m pregnant? If anything happened to your didi, see how I’ll sort you out!”
Yun Ruo Xue had already been stimulated by Rui mama. Now, seeing that her own mother seemed to not care about her, the anger in her heart boiled over again as she fiercely threw down her hands and said with a hateful glare, “If this didi will stand in my way, I will also get rid of him! Mom, you have changed! You used to really treat me well, but now the only thing in your eyes is that baby in your tummy! You won’t even promise a small matter like me wanting to attent the birthday feast. Could it what Rui mama said be true? Have you have already lost favor?”
When Su Qing heard her flesh and blood spout such hateful words and saw Yun Ruo Xue glare at her stomach with a savage expression, she only felt her heart squeezing in pain. The child that she had given her whole heart and attention was actually treating her like an enemy. Su Qing’s heart momentarily froze, as she raised a shaky hand to point at the door and growled, “Leave! Leave!”
Wang mama saw that the mother and daughter had become unreconciled and quickly went forward to stop Su Qing. She gently advised, “furen, don’t get angry. Don’t forget that you’re pregnant. You can’t let the anger affect your body!”
At the same time, she turned and told Yun Ruo Xue, “er xiaojie, please understand furen a little. For you, she has already been punished by xiangye. Why do you listen to people like Rui mama’s nonsense, and harm your mother-daughter relationship?”
But at the moment, Yun Ruo Xue was almost like she was possessed by a ghost. The kind advice of others turned into piercing insults when they crossed her ears!
She only switched her target to Wang mama after seemingly having finished venting at Su Qing, shouting, “Who do you think you are? You dare to teach me a lesson? If not for you being old and useless, would my reputation have been ruined by that cheap slut, Yun Qian Meng? Good on you! Like nothing had happened, you can play the peacemaker over here! Do you think that you’re important? Do you know your place? You think that you’re so good just because you’re the wet nurse of a yiniang? In the end, you’re not much more a dog!”
Hearing this, Wang mama felt her world fall apart. She almost let the blood overflow in her head and fell to the floor, almost losing her life to Yun Ruo Xue.
Su Qing was already trembling with rage. She felt her entire body release a cold chill as her heart had long frozen over, turning cold towards her completely insensible daughter.
But she was carrying the life of another in her body. Even if she was angry, she could not let it affect her child. So, Su Qing only closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, stabilizing her thoughts to stop her anger from resurfacing. Then, opening her eyes again, she told Yun Ruo Xue with unusual calm, “Please leave. I am just a yiniang, this is truly not a suitable place for er xiaojie to stay.”
When Yun Ruo Xue heard Su Qing’s changed tone and saw the disappointment expressed in her eyes, she momentarily sobered up. Noticing Su Qing’s paled expression and Wang mama’s flushed face, she realized how ridiculous she had been acting and immediately felt insurmountable regret in her heart. Dropping to a kneel before Su Qing with a crash, she crawled over and hugged her legs, weeping, “Mom, nü’er was wrong! It’s just that what Rui mama said today was too painful, so nü’er lost her mind! Mom, please don’t kick me out, nü’er is sorry!”
Not only was Yun Ruo Xue her own flesh and blood, Su Qing was actually still scheming on Yun Ruo Xue’s behalf. As there was no way she was really willing to kick her own daughter out, she could only send Wang mama an apologetic glance.
Wang mama, seeing Yun Ruo Xue like this, also settled the score in her heart. Although she was still offended by the hurtful words she had uttered, she still nodded to Su Qing.
Su Qing then pulled Yun Ruo Xue up and embraced her, patting her back with one and as she said consolingly, “Xue’er, no matter how angry you are, you must not hurt the people who are closest to you. Otherwise, if mom is no longer with you, who will be willing to treat you sincerely?”
At Su Qing’s advice, Yun Ruo Xue felt extremely ashamed. She only cried out loud, venting all of the grievances she had received today with her tears.
Su Qing let Wang mama go out to get a basin of water ready while she pulled Yun Ruo Xue to sit on the warmed bed, carefully asking her about what had happened in the ancestral hall.
Yun Ruo Xue, currently extremely afraid of being abandoned by Su Qing, saw that Su Qing was already treating her as usual, and honestly told her about her argument with Rui mama from start to finish.
Su Qing only found the matter more and more fishy as she listened. The old madam had already succeeded in pushing down both herself and her daughter, why would she send a mama to humiliate a still powerless Yun Ruo Xue?
Was this the old madam’s instructions, or Liu Han Yu’s? Or could it be Yun Qian Meng’s?
However, they did not have time to finish before a loud, violent knocking was heard from the gateway to Feng He Yuan.
A yatou that was keeping watch ran into the room in a panic and shouted, “furen, laotaitai brought a lot of people over……”
As soon as Yun Ruo Xue heard that the old madam had arrived, she jumped up in fright and hurriedly scoured the room for a hiding spot, trying to find a way to conceal herself……
Chapter 53: Give me back all of the dowry! | Chu Wang Fei
Su Qing couldn’t help but frown when she saw Yun Ruo Xue’s uselessness; losing her head at the slightest movement of the wind and grass.
She only pulled Yun Ruo Xue who was just about to hide behind the screens and asked sternly, “What are you panicking for? That old madam is not some wild beast, she won’t eat you! How is what you are doing now of any benefit?”
&nb
sp; But Yun Ruo Xue had already lost her wits at the moment. She didn’t even listen to Su Qing and continued to force way and hide behind the screens; even Su Qing almost couldn’t hold her down. Luckily, Wang mama had just returned with the copper basin and saw the two of them tussling about. She hurriedly passed the basin of water to the yatou that had just come and immediately ran over to help Su Qing stop Yun Ruo Xue, strenuously advising, “er xiaojie, if you hide yourself, won’t the old madam say that you were trying to hide your guilt? What’s more, you are now in furen’s room. Afterwards, furen might get blamed by laoye again! We should instead quickly think of a plan and try to cross this river together!”
Obstructed by the both of them, Yun Ruo Xue was unable to move even half a step. With cold sweat pouring from her forehead, she anxiously shouted, “How can we have time to plan? They are already at the gates to the courtyard!”
As she shouted, she struggled to tear herself out of her clothing, planning to escape by leaving behind a shell!
Su Qing was actually also feeling restless, but she was more capable at enduring the pressure than Yun Ruo Xue. Looking at ther daughter’s disheveled clothing and appearance, an idea suddenly flashed in her mind. She grabbed both of Yun Ruo Xue’s arms and looked at her with serious eyes, saying, “Xue’er, mom has a plan! But you will have to suffer a bit of injustice!”
Yun Ruo Xue did not have time to worry about whether or not she would suffer any injustice. Hearing that Su Qing had a plan, her fretful eyes suddenly lit up, as she grasped both of Su Qing’s hands and asked excitedly, “Is it true? Mom, quickly tell me; what’s the plan?”
Su Qing saw how quickly Yun Ruo Xue had become filled with hope before even hearing about the plan and couldn’t help but feel somewhat reluctant. Still, she quickly swept her hands over Yun Ruo Xue’s body, finally choosing a spot at the parting of her hair. Then, grabbing a teacup from the table, she suddenly smashed Yun Ruo Xue’s forehead!
“Aaaaah……” With a miserable shriek, Yun Ruo Xue rolled about the floor while clutching her forehead. Su Qing, however, was quickly washing the teacup with the basin of water. After that, she lifted the copper basin and poured the water out of the window.
Then, she helped Yun Ruo Xue up once again. Ignoring her daughter’s livid expression, she supported and moved her to the couch……
Right then, the old madam burst into the room with the whole crowd.
“Su yiniang, where did you hide Ruo Xue? Quickly turn that ingrate over! I won’t rest until I rip off her skin today!” Before they even had time to stand, the old madam had shouted at them with a loud and stern voice.
Su Qing handed Yun Ruo Xue over to Wang mama before she turned to face the old madam with a hurtful expression. She kneeled before the old madam, aggrieved, and choked out emotionally, “laotaitai, you have to be fair to our er xiaojie! Look at her injury, why didn’r the heartless person who did this just come directly at me?”
As she said this, Su Qing’s tears began to fall. She did not give the old madam any opportunity to flip out and dragged the old madam’s skirt, continuing, “laotaitai, er xiaojie is a precious young miss of the xiangfu! Look at her, she’s been so heavily injured by someone! As her zumu, you can’t just let her suffer this grievance!”
The old madam momentarily forgot how to react and could only stare blankly at the tearful Su Qing. Then, looking at Yun Ruo Xue who was still groaning on the couch, her severe gaze momentarily flashed behind her, towards Rui mama who was being supported by two yatou.
Rui mama was also caught unprepared by the sudden circumstances. Looking at the fresh blood flowing from between Yun Ruo Xue’s fingers, and hearing Su Qing’s sound accusation, she too lost her wits and didn’t dare to put on any airs. Wringing free from the two yatou’s support, she rushed before the old madam, kneeled and immediately pleaded her innocence, “laotaitai, please perceive the truth! laonu is the victim! er xiaojie injured laonu’s head, but laonu is a servant. Don’t mention hitting others, even laonu’s words are careful and respectful; there’s no way laonu can do something so utterly heartless! laotaitai, please seek justice for laonu!”
As she said this, Rui mama did not care about the injury on her forehad and kowtowed to the old madam as if her life was on the line. In just a moment, the dark yellow carpets were dyed red by Rui mama’s blood!
Seeing her like this, and knowing her usual demeanor, the old madam already had the scales in her heart tipped in favor of Rui mama. The hatred in the glare she shot at Su Qing only increased.
By now, Yun Ruo Xue had finally understood why Su Qing had done this. Jumping off the couch with a soft whoosh with her face still covered in blood, she plopped towards the old madam, forcefully pushing aside Rui mama who had the old madam’s attention, and clutched at the old madam’s legs, softly crying, “zumu, sunnü knows that you had good intentions when you sent Rui mama to look after sunnü! But, don’t know why, today, Rui mama wouldn’t stop insulting sunnü with her words! sunnü is young and inexperienced, so when I heard these unpleasant things, I can’t help but feel unresolved and shot back a few words! But Rui mama suddenly became very angry and grabbed the bowl on the table to smash sunnü’s head! zumu, sunnü can’t possibly not retaliate after being hit and endangered by other people, right? That’s why I snatched the bowl away and accidentally hit mama! When mama fainted, sunnü was very scared, so I ran back here, to Feng He Yuan! If zumu doesn’t believe me, look at sunnü’s forehead. This large bowl-sized wound almost took sunnü’s life away……”
Yun Ruo Xue, as if worried that the old madam and the others did not believe her, immediately stood up and lifted the hair near her forehead, revealing the bloody wound. Everyone, including the old madam, frowned at the sight of the wound.
Seeing that most of them were currently unable to figure out which side was telling the truth, Su Qing immediately hugged Yun Ruo Xue , grabbed a silk handkerchief, and dabbed at the wound with a shuddering hand. She said broken-heartedly, “My child, it’s all mom’s fault for having a low status as a yiniang! It’s my fault that a proper xiaojie like you can be bullied by a servant! It doesn’t matter if they treat me badly, but you are a precious daughter of the xiangfu. If news spread that a mean slave bullied her master, not only would our xiangfu’s reputation be ruined, it might even cause laotaitai and xiangye’s relationship to become strained! What’s more, now that your beauty is damaged, when the time comes to choose a husband, which family’s gongzi will be willing to marry you?”
Su Qing seemed to get angrier as she spoke, her eyes were glaring at Rui mama like a poisonous viper, as if she wanted to pounce over and give her a deadly bite!
However, Rui mama was clearly the true victim. Seeing how the mother and daughter were colluding to throw the crime onto her shoulders, she was already unable to stop herself from trembling with rage. But, not knowing how the wound on Yun Ruo Xue’s head had come about, she could only fume with rage and kowtow towards the old madam, “laotaitai, nubi has served you for many decades; nubi’s character and personality, laotaitai knows best! nubi started to follow you from the time laotaitai was still a xiaojie, followed you as a dowry maid when you entered Yun fu, and followed you to the xiangfu when dalaoye was promoted! Even though erlaoye’s Yun Fu was not in the capital, and nubi had stayed there with laotaitai for the longest time, nubi is not some short-sighted person. nubi has never done any of these underhanded or dishonorable actions; there’s no way nubi will do something like bullying a master! What’s more, nubi knows deeply about the importance of a young lady’s appearance; there’s no way nubi will treat er xiaojie’s appearance as a joke! laotaitai, please perceive the truth! Otherwise, nubi will rather kill myself here in Feng He Yuan!”
As she finished, Rui mama steadily stood up and gave Su Qing and Yun Ruo Xue a cold smile. Then, she motioned to run headfirst into the heavy wooden doorframe.
“Stop her!” At the old madam’s yell, the servants in the room all quickly grabbed Rui mama’s waist and
tried to talk down Rui mama who had resolved to commit suicide.
“mama, even we know how you usually act, of course laotaitai will know even better! She will definitely seek justice for you!”
“mama, if you do this, won’t you be dying of persecution? laotaitai has always relied heavily upon you, she won’t just let you suffer this injustice for no reason!”
“That’s right, mama, laotaitai is still here! You are the closest person to her, so don’t make this mistake. All of us know how good you are. If you really go away, all of us will be very sad!”
Completing each other’s sentences, they finally managed to halt Rui mama for the time being. Still, she only sank to the floor dejectedly, kneeling before the old madam once again.
The old madam was just about to get angry at Su Qing for forcing her most trusted aide to consider suicide, when Yun Ruo Xue’s small face suddenly paled, her eyes glazing over as she swooned and fell to the floor. Shocked, Su Qing suddenly pounced over and hugged Yun Ruo Xue’s body, weeping, “laotaitai, your own granddaughter is at the brink of life and death, but you still want to side with that wicked servant? nubi knows that you don’t like me, but er xiaojie is xiangye’s flesh and blood; the blood flowing in her body is the blood of the Yun family! Are you really so ruthless that you are willing to see your granddaughter die under false accusations?”
The old madam had no idea if Yun Ruo Xue had really fainted or if she was only pretending; but with so many pairs of eyes on her, she still needed to put up appearances. Hence, she sent another one of her mama to go over to look.
However, Su Qing was crying and hugging Yun Ruo Xue’s head tightly, preventing anyone from getting closer; her eyes wet with unyielding tears filled with grief.
